With the State slipping into the third place in salt production in the country, the Tamil Nadu government has written to the Centre asking it to consider the pleas of the salt manufacturers to renew their leases for a period of 20 years.
A senior official said that in a letter sent to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the State said the issue of lease renewal was affecting production badly on lands owned by the Central government and this was, in turn, affecting employment of salt workers engaged on those lands.
“The letter was sent based on the requests of the salt manufacturers in the State. We have asked them to charge base rates charged by the State government. Salt is not a highly profit making venture and is very labour intensive. It was around 2013 that the Government of India took a decision to auction the lands, and they also increased the base rates. Across the country, manufacturers have taken stay,” the official said.
Salt is produced on 48,406 acres in Tamil Nadu.